S29.E01: We're Coming for You, Phil!

[Netfoot]

9 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

Sounds like there was an exit between the one that was effectively a right and turn and one that was more or less straight ahead.

Ok.  But "Second exit!"  or (pointing) "Go there!" is better than "0.75 radians in the direction of the plane of the ecliptic as measured from the vernal equinox!"

[piequinn35]

Yeah you can't blame Ashton to be uneasy with Vanck because of that lol.

Maybe Phil was driving at 20 to 50kph while the taxi drivers were driving at 60 to 100kph. And maybe they were afraid to say to Phil "faster Phil faster!" or "can't you go any faster Phil?"

Edited March 31, 2017 by piequinn35

[lianau]

19 hours ago, enlightenedbum said:

I was dreading the twist but it's not as awful as it could have been.  Confused by the rules.  All but one person picking opposite gender surprised me and I thought it was a rule except there's the one all guy team leaving the two women picked last.  Weird.  Only the team that finished 10th and the uncomfortably nerdy dude/math is icky! pairings were really uncomfortable.  Teams that deserved to suck mostly did, basically functional people did well, so that's promising.

 

Not really weird . A woman comes with a different set of skills . And the first guy to choose , explained it with assumed superior dance skills . 

 

13 hours ago, Merneith said:

Team Vanck, Vanck's Ego, and the Blonde he thought was hot - Sorry, lady. You seem cool but there was too much load in that boat.

 

I hate to stereotype him so much but my first thought was " This is the closest he's ever been to a hot woman ".

 

7 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

Floyd. I forgave Becca for that slight once I saw that they vibed well together. 

At 6'3, she probably towered over the tallest guy there. Francesca? She is huge! 

Probably the reason the guys didn't choose her . Looking around my circle of friends , I can't think of a single couple where the woman is taller than her partner.

 

7 hours ago, meep.meep said:

I think this is the only time both Detour options were closed for safety reasons.  In Season 5 (?) in Egypt, Charla and Mirna were the only ones to do the camel ride before it closed for the night.  Everyone else had to do the alternate, much more physical option.

I liked this more than I expected.  There are always teams who I can't stand right off the bat, but there are some that I like.  

The goat farmers (S 20 or 21 ) wanted to to the library detour in Russia but the library had already closed so they had to do the swimming challenge and were awful .

[Skyfall]

7 hours ago, Gummo said:

Strange, strange premiere:

This has always been an 8 pm family show. What's with the 10 pm time slot? Is CBS just dumping it in a bad slot deliberately as a ploy to justify cancellation?

And what's with all the military/fire/police officers? They have to comprise 2/3rds of the contestants. This show used to recruit from everywhere and everybody.  This may be the least diverse cast they've ever had. The stranger gimmick would have been more interesting if everyone didn't do the same frickin' job.

This:

So true and so sad. 

There are pluses, though:

Teams driving themselves on the first leg! How long has it been!? And the results were hysterical, with some teams so lost they ended up missing being able to even attempt the detour. Now that's some classic Race right there!

So far, loving Team Nerds Physical & Mental (ie, Becca & Floyd). They're racing well and having a great time.

Also Seth/Olive. And team Odd Couple (snowboarder and military guy). And some others whose names I don't know yet.

Can't stand Butcher Beardie, for some reason. Just a feeling that he's got a real chip on his shoulder. Also, though I don't like Austin much, I feel so sorry for her. Vanck is worse than useless, he's a hindrance. "Make a 135 degree turn"?? I would have ordered him out of the car right then and done the rest of the leg myself.

Some attractive buff bodies to look at, I guess. But this is really starting to feel a little like Amazing Race Mania -- not the real Race but an amazing simulation!*

 

(*Ya gotta be pretty damn old to get this reference!)

Since no one answered that I saw. A new series flopped so they pulled it and moved TAR into that slot.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

A Man, A Plan, A Canal, The Amazing Race

Teams of total strangers head to Panama; some immediately wish they'd tried a little bit harder to convince their moms to fill out that application with them.

[meep.meep]

The burning question still is - if Redbeard and Cowgirl left the Detour area before Team Hot Laid Back Asians even got there, how lost did they get on the way to the pit stop?  On a scale of:  Just-need-to-go-around-the-block to Headed-to-the Andes-but-found-the-ocean, I think they were closer to the latter.

Spectacularly bad navigators.

[iMonrey]

I do think it's a little fishy they all picked opposite sex partners except Matt (and the two left-overs who didn't get to pick). It sort of reinforces the idea that this group all came out of Central Reality Casting and didn't really know what kind of show they were on. I mean, do you want to win, or do you want to make a love match? Why didn't the tougher guys pair up? I know that one nerdy kid said he's been watching this show since he was in the 5th grade but he probably watches all the reality shows so that doesn't mean any of these people actually applied.

[NYGirl]

I hate that my favorite how has resorted to gimmicks to stay on the air but I guess it's sort of the same thing Survivor does...reinvents itself each season.  I was just so happy that it's back so I didn't even mind the stupid twist this season.  That being said there are lots of uniforms this season, firefighter, cops, armed forces, etc.  It's going to be interesting to say the least.

The right team did go.  I feel sorry for the Asian guy in the red shirt..his partner was a bitch.

I'm thinking I'm ever going to remember who is who this season, except for the couple that got the Express Pass.  They annoyed me to no end for some reason.

[Netfoot]

8 hours ago, Gummo said:

What's with the 10 pm time slot?

Dunno, but since it's after the watershed, we can get some interesting new challenges:

"Teams must strip buck nekkid and wrassle in the mud..."

[pwdrpuff]

I swear there has already been a season with stranger pairings, but they didn't get to choose.  Am I wrong or was it just one stranger team pairing before? 

[Merneith]

33 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I mean, do you want to win, or do you want to make a love match? Why didn't the tougher guys pair up?

All-guy teams are not automatically better at everything than mixed-gender teams. If they were, all guy teams would win every year. This race really rewards well-rounded teams and partners who can balance each others' abilities.

And also, not to stereotype, but - I can't help wondering if some of the guys didn't pick women for partners just to take the whole potential homophobia "problem" off the table. (Scare quotes because while homophobia is a thing, the actual "problem" is the homophobe, not the homosexual.)

I am more surprised that none of the women who could choose, chose Jesse, although she did come awfully try-hard, out of the gate. I like the Jessie and Francesca team. I hope they go far.

[Stardancer Supreme]

It was Jessie who called Jenn the Asian Barbie! I love her.

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, meep.meep said:

The burning question still is - if Redbeard and Cowgirl left the Detour area before Team Hot Laid Back Asians even got there, how lost did they get on the way to the pit stop?  On a scale of:  Just-need-to-go-around-the-block to Headed-to-the Andes-but-found-the-ocean, I think they were closer to the latter.

Spectacularly bad navigators.

They are bad navigators because they left before the other team was told they couldn't finish the task but they were both there at the same time, the model/surfer were just starting their first attempt when Redhead and Cowgirl finished and left. Both teams commented on each other and it seemed that the Model/surfer were puled right after their first attempt so they were not that far behind them.

[Haleth]

Gee, color me surprised. I was hating the strangers gimmick but the episode wasn't terrible.  Some of the teams might be worth watching-- Seth and Olive, Floyd and Becca, Matt and Redmond-- they seemed to catch on right away. I do agree the leg was poorly planned if they had to close the challenge before everyone finished. Of all the teams I'm glad the long hairs were eliminated since they lacked urgency. It is a race, after all.  Team Beard and the highly mismatched Vanck and Ashton are fodder too.  I just hope TAR goes out with a bang and not a whimper.

[mojoween]

Vanck appears to have no urgency in him at all and there is just no way I could deal with that nonsense.

London does have beautiful eyes Phil but please don't try to be another matchmaker, it's gross.

Shamir is very very good-looking.

The view from the shot at the top of the tower seemed to be breathtaking and it would have been hard for me to ever get back down.

I'm sorry we lost Kevin but not sorry to see the back of Jenn.  He didn't really seem all that fond of her.  And calling him her sister?  WTF.

Edited April 1, 2017 by mojoween

[Alapaki]

I thought it ended up being a pretty good premiere.  Maybe my expectations were just low.

I don't have a problem with the time penalty.  Everyone else was able to complete the Detour before dark.  That lagging team shouldn't get a pass.  

The only thing I'd say is that since I think it was pretty apparent that the pro rowing team was instructed to let the Racers win in Attempt #3, there must have been a fairly uniform outer-timeframe for completion of the task.  

But, again, the team brought it on themselves by being so slow.  And while I'll miss the eye-candy (although I would've worn my mute button out when she's onscreen) I think that was a very satisfying first elimination.

[shura]

8 hours ago, seasquared said:

Yeah, ever since Marky Mark and Patriots Day...all these police folks think they can movie stahs.  (Edited to add that I did not mean this comment to be disparaging towards any police officers and their brave efforts to keep us safe. Just a tongue in cheek observation on how it feels like every movie about Boston revolves around police)

Oh, the cynic in me was kind of disparaging to some police officers. I was picturing a Rush Hour-type scenario, with the Police Department figuring "Why don't we send these two to TAR and Survivor? The city will be safer that way." It's just so curious that cop partners would both go do reality shows.

7 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

Vanck and Ashton?  Holy cow.  Ashton is also bugging me, and her visible disappointment at being chosen by Vanck was kind of offensive.  But then again, he's no prize either.  They are dysfunctional and will implode soon too.

And I will be there to enjoy it. It will be all sorts of awkward and awesome. Another team that will implode is the red-headed guy (Scott?) and his partner. This one is going to be ugly.

7 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Oh, there are three Asian people in the cast!

Oh, they all kind of suck.

Oh, and now two of them are eliminated. 

Well, shit.

This is fantastic. It's not haiku, but I know poetry when I see it.

[chaifan]

I'm actually not surprised there are so many cops and firefighters on TAR (and other reality shows).  Public sector employees usually have decent vacation accrual, and also normally can rollover unused days from one year to the next.  Safety forces and other 24/7 departments can also trade off/float holidays (anywhere from 8-11 days/year), and if they're below supervisor rank, may get comp time for overtime hours.  So it wouldn't take long to bank up 30 days off for one of these shows.  They probably had that much banked even before applying.  Safety forces are also very used to people being off (injury leave, court duty, special assignments), so the departments can better accommodate someone being gone for a month.  So it makes sense to me.

[jackjill89]

I actually like this twist. I got tired/annoyed with the team gimmicks/uniforms/schtick so at least this time they don't have months to try and be clever before they race. It also showed me how completely annoying people are regardless if they know their partner or not. 

I think it will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks. 

[etagloh]

Well, show's back. And as opening episodes go, even putting aside the gimmick, I thought it was planned out decently and turned out okay. I can cope with the single challenge alongside that much self-driving in a relatively tough environment, though I wonder if TPTB anticipated a) a delay to the second flight; b) teams getting that lost en route to the Detour. It could have easily ended with two teams in darkness and a dangerous pursuit to the Pit Stop.

I'm not going to pass judgement on individual teams until I get a full episode with them , but...

Quote

Far too many high strung people right off the bat. And all of the cops and military and firefighters.  This is going to be war.

This is what worries me. The FireCopVetCopCopCop stuff may have served as a major screen for casting this time round -- "tell us how well you cope thrown into situations working with people you don't know?" -- but you can see from the outset that it's going to set up a particular set of intra- and inter-team dynamics, and so in spite of this relatively nicey-nicey opener, I'm left wondering if this season was held back so long because of what's to come, and not just because of the other CBS shows in the schedule.

And yes, the lower production budget bled through to the editing and some of the setup. It feels almost like a spinoff TAR in another country, but the real younger non-US versions of TAR actually have more vim and polish to them. Show's weary, sad to say.

[candall]

I love the strangers "twist."

The regular seasons got much too repetitive about casting the standard teams:  The older couple you liked, who didn't have a prayer of keeping up.  The relatives with one person handicapped by either age or physical limitation.  The intelligent brother-sister team.  The generously endowed cheerleader/models with long hair and Pepsodent smiles.  The real estate agent team.  The physically fit bro team--who consistently left everyone else in the dust.

Speaking of which, didn't any of these new people watch those old seasons?  I was surprised every time a physically fit bro chose a woman instead of a mirror image.  Million dollars, dude!  That being said, the "leftover" women look awesome.  Did you see those arm muscles?!?  You go, Grrrrlz.

Edited April 1, 2017 by candall

[lianau]

3 hours ago, Merneith said:

I am more surprised that none of the women who could choose, chose Jesse, although she did come awfully try-hard, out of the gate. I like the Jessie and Francesca team. I hope they go far.

A large woman is still a woman and if I were in that situation I think I also would go with a guy who looked like he could labor through a task requiring strength . 

[sportsgirl]

I loved the blind date season -- I thought the dynamics were really interesting, and it was fun watching teams of strangers dominate teams of established couples. Eventual winners Laura & Tyler were one of my all-time favorite race teams, too:  they were fantastic partners, handled stress well, and didn't freak out on each other when things went wrong. 

That being said, the first ten minutes of this season filled me with dread. I couldn't tell anything about anyone, and the pair up directive seemed so gimmicky. But as it played out, I kind of loved it. First, my fear that we'd get a bunch of alpha male pairings didn't happen. The team dynamics were pretty interesting. Maybe because most racers were on their best behavior (and as someone pointed out, didn't have months to plan their team shtick), they were mostly pleasant and cooperative, while not being boring to watch. I love this show, and I'm in. (I already prefer this cast 100xs over the internet stars season.)

Jenn was really into the stereotypes: about herself (no matter how many times people say it in the opener, looks are not a particularly useful tool on the Race), mainly, but in the every clip, it was either Asians or long-hairs or pretty people. I'm kind of glad she's gone, because that would have gotten old.

Speaking of old, please tell me that TeamMom&Dad named themselves that because they each have kids, not because they're maybe a decade above the average age of the other contestants.

[Netfoot]

I would have selected a female running mate, given the opportunity.  The potential for diversifying skill sets is just too obvious to ignore.  Which female?  Not one who plans to cute her way through the race.  One who is strong and fit, but also feminine.

Off the top of my head, of all past female racers who pop to mind...  Claire "Watermelon" Champlin from TAR-17.  (Dat gal tuff!)

So, not surprised many choose to mix it up.

ETA: Or maybe one of the BQs...

Edited April 1, 2017 by Netfoot

[sinycalone]

There are usually only a few challenges that require both team members to apply brute strength or super endurance...so mixing genders seems like the best way to go.  (One task I recall from a past TAR that really benefited from both teammates being extremely strong:  the beer cask transfer in Scotland that the Hockey Bros. smoked.)  I think TeamMomDad will do well...both are in good physical shape, and used to adjusting to a partner or fellow soldier.

Edited April 1, 2017 by sinycalone

[blackwing]

So happy the show is back.  I don't mind the strangers aspect... after so many years and declining ratings in recent seasons, I worry that the show is growing stale in the minds of the general viewer population (obviously, people who don't post on message boards like this one!).  So I think a twist is here to try and liven things up a bit.  Better this than an all-celebrity season.

I do agree that there are way too many cop/firefighter/military types.   They are way over represented on reality shows   I also agree that Boston is over represented, and when they are on, they are always a cop/firefighter/military type   Why?

I thought it was great that people got to pick their partners in the order of how they finished the first task.  I'm a bit surprised there weren't more male/male teams.  I know people have opined that it's better for a man to pair with a woman, but I kind of disagree.  It's obviously better for anyone to pair with anyone, male or female, who is well rounded, but that's so hard to tell on first glance.  But strength is almost always an asset.  I'm surprised Logan didn't get picked first by the gay cop... they seem like they would have been a very strong team.

I am fairly indifferent to most teams, but I have a lot of annoyance at Vanck, Redbeard 140 IQ, and "Gay Redhead".  

What producer thought Vanck would make for good TV?   Because he's a nerd?  Seems like they purposely cast him to make fun of him, and I'm a bit offended that some casting agent seems to have thought, "oh! A nerd!  This will be a trainwreck!  And he's Asian to boot!  Even better!"   I agree with the comment upthread that Ashton seems utterly disgusted to have been paired with an Asian nerd.  She kept saying "we are so different".  I have a feeling that if she had been paired with the tall, muscled, good looking Logan, that she would have been willing to overlook any differences even if he was overly intellectual.

Redbeard 140 IQ.  Yeech.  He goes on about judging people by first appearances but then he doesn't really do anything to dispel the misconception.  And I really hate that he had to say he was playing for his daughter.  He's got the red beard and is overweight and as soon as he said that, he reminded me instantly of Kyle Jason from that awful season of Survivor.

The one who calls himself "the gay redhead".  Ugh.  He and his partner are already snipping at each other.

[Quilt Fairy]

Quote

Another thing I really noticed? This show has won, what 10 Emmys? I remember when it was a marvel of cinematography. Like watching a movie every week. But boy howdy, has their budget been slashed! The editing looked like it had been done on Windows 10 -- really amateur wipes and dissolves and all those still photos, it was like watching the local news. This was the creme-de-la-creme of reality TV, and it just looks cheap now.

ITA.  While watching some of the shots I kept thinking "Have all their old (good) cameramen retired?" Definitely not up to the standard TAR established long ago.

[jackjill89]

Quote

The one who calls himself "the gay redhead".  Ugh.  He and his partner are already snipping at each other.

...and he would be an ass with whoever he was paired with.  He's a first class jerk who thinks WAY to highly of himself. 

[MarMar]

I really liked it!  I am inclined to enjoy this in the first place, but I liked that they need to learn to work with a stranger while trying to complete tasks. It will be interesting to see who can adapt to their partner in a constructive way and who can not. I felt a little bit bad for the few who got partners they were not thrilled with, but there is your challenge. To quote Tim Gunn, make it work. I am not going to judge anyone too harshly on the first episode as I can only imagine how stressful it was to get a new partner and take right off for the first flight.  The next episode should be interesting as the newness of the partnerships wears off and true natures emerge.  I just wish it was on earlier, I will have to watch on Fridays.   

[AZChristian]

I don't remember from watching the episode . . . once the chooser made their choice, did the choosee HAVE to accept?  I assume they did; otherwise, the blond lady would not have stayed with the Asian young man, IMHO.

[raven]

Watching racers accidentally dump themselves in the water will never NOT be fun, so I liked that. 

The race should be fun, I want to like Team Fun, I do, but...shut up, Becca.  That said, they did well together, being the only ones to complete the shoot task, so good for them. 

I also hope the all-women team goes far.  At least in the beginning when they had their interaction (before teaming) the drill sergeant made a "she's feisty" comment rather than "bitch" or whatever - it could have been a worse disagreement.  Their personalities may mesh well together and their different physiques may complement each other, unlike Ashton and Vanck.  I watched their discussion about shooting the arrows again, and I think if Ashton acts more assertively, especially if she feels confident, that would work better.   They both seem to be tip toeing around each other too much, someone step up!!! Otherwise they will be even more painful to watch.  Unless one of them ends up being the quiet passive aggressive type - ugh.

Oh, yeah, Big Beard thinking about quitting in the first episode doesn't bode well for them. Plus they must be awful navigators to arrive at the mat after Team Long Hair.

Overall, not bad, will be better as the herd gets culled.

[needschocolate]

I wonder if the choser could ask any questions, because I would have said, "Raise your right hand if you can drive stick and your left hand if you can dance" then pick someone with both hands up.  

On 3/31/2017 at 7:56 AM, Tryangle said:

I worry about this - listening to the yelling does not make for an enjoyable season.

Bickering couples are my least favorite teams.  I am hoping that this gimmick helps lessen the bickering and telling because everyone on the show is someone who wanted to be on the show.  There are no superfan brings along their mate/friend/parent/sibling who didn't really want to be on the show but agreed to it anyway.  

21 hours ago, Netfoot said:

135° left or right?  Because the compass rose proceeds clockwise.  And he seemed to want to go 45° left of straight ahead (which being no turn at all, would be 0°, right? correct?)

And the roundabout probably proceeded counter-clockwise.  He wanted her to make a right turn at 135 degrees.I guess he meant that he wanted her to turn right half way between the right-angle right turn and going straight.  Would have made a lot more sense if he jsut said "take the second right" or "turn right at the second street" (or third or whatever number).

15 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I do think it's a little fishy they all picked opposite sex partners except Matt (and the two left-overs who didn't get to pick). It sort of reinforces the idea that this group all came out of Central Reality Casting and didn't really know what kind of show they were on. I mean, do you want to win, or do you want to make a love match? Why didn't the tougher guys pair up? I know that one nerdy kid said he's been watching this show since he was in the 5th grade but he probably watches all the reality shows so that doesn't mean any of these people actually applied.

I think there are a lot of reasons (some based on stereotypes) for picking a partner of the opposite sex that don't have to do with finding a love match.  Guys might pick a woman because they think is woman would be better at dancing,  agility/balance tasks,   artistic or detail oriented tasks, selling things due to flirtiness, etc.  Women may pick men for their strength.  

[iMonrey]

Quote

And also, not to stereotype, but - I can't help wondering if some of the guys didn't pick women for partners just to take the whole potential homophobia "problem" off the table.

I wondered the same thing, especially since two of the guys who got to pick are gay. I also said "Oh, Phil," when he had his moment of gay panic after telling Logan he was nice to look at.

I also wonder if anyone could have refused - like maybe Ashton could have said "No thanks" when Vanck picked her.

There's definitely something fishy about the cast, though: there are three police officers, three military personnel, two realtors, two Wall St. employees, plus a firefighter and a criminal attorney. It almost seems like they had originally intended to pair them up by occupation instead of letting them choose for themselves, because on that basis they actually pair up pretty well:

• Sara - Luxury Real Estate; Ashton - Residential Real Estate
• Vanck - Wall St. Analyst; Shamir - Wall St. Banker
• Seth - Police officer; Joey - Police Sgt
• Jessie - K9 officer; Olive - Firefighter
• Francesca - Army Drill Sgt.; Tara - Army officer
• Scott - Recruiting Manager; Logan - Surgical Consultant/Sales Rep
• Jenn - Model; London - Artist
• Kevin - Athletic Trainer; Matt - Snowboarder

The rest of them are kind of a crap shoot but you see what I'm getting at.

Edited April 1, 2017 by iMonrey

[jumper sage]

23 hours ago, Netfoot said:

140 is Mensa-level smart.  But wandering about the planet boasting about your IQ is a clear indicator that you aren't really all that clever, so...

It is?  Wow!  Seems low, I know all of our families IQs from taking the test as a family.  Our lowest number, who makes the most money by the way, is 138.

22 hours ago, green said:

Why?  I respect him for saying that.  He was making a very strong comment on how people in this society are judged as smart based on the cover and not the book.  Because he didn't look like the "image" a person has of a smart person.  Because of a very strong prejudice in America to judge people by very shallow, very stupid stuff like money ("what is he worth") and looks and career and such.  Not their intelligence what to speak of their character, integrity, honor or compassion.  So that was a very VERY worthy comment to make and something I hope gets through to some of the viewers' and their stereotypes. 

Please disregard my last comment.  You make sense!  I never judge on IQ, money etc but more in line with Dr. MLK and the content of character, how you treat others and how to keep cool in stressful situations.

[UGAmp]

I'm glad the show is back. I hope this isn't the last season since it kept getting pushed back and the day/time slot kept changing over the last few years. But I'm glad it's not on Sundays so I don't have to say my DVR to record for additional hours in the event a game ran over (and sometimes it still wasn't enough extra time). 

Off the bat, I liked the cop/ firefighter team and Matt and Redmond. Team Fun is going to wear me down quickly. 

I watched this episode with my 13 and 14 year old nieces who have become HUGE survivor fans over the last two years so I thought I'd introduce them to TAR. It blew their minds that the racers were not allowed to use their phones for directions or Google. I don't know if they've ever truly seen someone use a paper map to drive instead of GPS. One niece also asked why the racers didn't just take an Uber (when they were in a taxi). Sigh. Kids today. 

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, jumper sage said:

It is?  Wow!  Seems low, I know all of our families IQs from taking the test as a family.  Our lowest number, who makes the most money by the way, is 138.

According to Wikipedia:  

Quote

Mensa's requirement for membership is a score at or above the 98th percentile on certain standardised IQ or other approved intelligence tests, such as the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales. The minimum accepted score on the Stanford–Binet is 132, while for the Cattell it is 148.

So 140 is smack in the middle there.  'Course, we don't know which test he took...

I used to be up there myself, once upon a time.  Many bottles of rum and many spliffs ago...

[mishap]

I hated Asian Barbie, the moment she said she was going to use her looks. ( I loved  Jessie, I think?  who dubbed her 'Asian Barbie'.)   I got tired of her comments about being pretty and the long hair.  There are other people on the race who are good looking and have long hair. 

I was going to snark about the cowgirl, complaining that her boots are not really made for running.   But the other cowboy teams that have been in TAR, have probably worn their jeans and boots too.  I could not imagine doing the race in those types of clothes, but if that is what they are comfortable wearing,  then more power to them! 

[egnever]

17 hours ago, blackwing said:

I agree with the comment upthread that Ashton seems utterly disgusted to have been paired with an Asian nerd.  She kept saying "we are so different".  I have a feeling that if she had been paired with the tall, muscled, good looking Logan, that she would have been willing to overlook any differences even if he was overly intellectual.

I totally agree with this. What kind of apparently socially adjusted person would immediately display their disappointment and disgust with a practical stranger and, by the end of their very first leg together, spout off about how they are so different right in front of their new partner? And wouldn't that be a good thing? If you were supposedly good with "words and people", wouldn't you want someone who was good at "math and numbers" as your partner?

Completely don't understand the confusion regarding 135 degrees. It's a fucking roundabout, how else are you going to express how far you have to turn around it before you get out? You could say get out on the 2nd, 3rd, etc right, but without knowing how many spokes there were to the roundabout (and how they're arranged), it's not particularly descriptive to anyone with a decent sense of direction. Meanwhile, I would presume anyone would be able to understand 135 degrees since it's basic high school math. It's not like he was trying to explain the route with algebraic topology.

Vanck is so awkward that I wonder if he's on the autism spectrum, but I think I would have better luck getting through to him than Ashton, who apparently thinks she signed up on the show to find a tall, strong, attractive, and smart man who will carry her and her backpack around the world.

[Rancide]

On 3/30/2017 at 8:59 PM, enlightenedbum said:

I was dreading the twist but it's not as awful as it could have been.  Confused by the rules.  All but one person picking opposite gender surprised me and I thought it was a rule except there's the one all guy team leaving the two women picked last.  Weird. 

I thought it was weird, too, but actually the choices ended up pretty logical.  Seth picks first and is gay.  If I were a gay dude on this show pairing up with a stranger, I might prefer a female partner, too, over a rando potential "bro" contestant with as-yet-unknown attitudes towards homosexuality.  He picks the first woman who finished.  Matt picks second and picks a guy.  Shamir picks third, and for all his cracking a joke about wanting a hot chick, he actually picked the person who finished highest among the remaining contestants (who also happens to be a hot chick).  Scott picks fourth and is also gay so is facing the same kind of choice as Seth.  Becca picks fifth and is a woman and picks a man.  Vanck picks sixth and is Vanck.  Tara picks seventh and is a woman and picks a man.  London picks eighth and is a woman and picks a man.  Jenn picks ninth and is a woman and picks a man.  Michael picks tenth, and there are no men left to pick.  Team Eleven is two women.

The only people who made choices that made me thing "wow, I might have done that differently" are Vanck (which....) and I guess possibly Shamir (though he did actually pick the next highest finisher after himself).  Vanck probably should have picked Logan.  Everyone else made what seemed to be at least a defensible choice under the circumstances.

Edited April 2, 2017 by Rancide

[biakbiak]

19 minutes ago, Rancide said:

 Seth picks first and is gay.  If I were a gay dude on this show pairing up with a stranger, I might prefer a female partner, too, over a rando potential "bro" contestant with as-yet-unknown attitudes towards homosexuality

It should be noted that women are just as capable of being homophobic and having issues working with a gay teammate.

[Rancide]

4 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

It should be noted that women are just as capable of being homophobic and having issues working with a gay teammate.

Yes, though a homophobic woman probably won't manifest her homophobia by not wanting to share a tent with you or imagining that you're trying to hit on her.  I'm a PoC, and if I were in this position I'd have been looking for another PoC.  Not that non-white people can't be racist.  Or that all white people are racist.  Just playing the odds.  (Which is, frankly, all the people who were say "pick a man over a woman" are doing, also.)

[scrb]

Google Maps in navigation mode will say take the second exit at the roundabout.  Second exit may be right turn or going straight, at least in Europe, often in these little towns.

i glance at the screen when approaching and I treat it like a clock, with my car always entering from 6 o'clock.   Often, you have to exit at 1 o'clock, rather than 3 or 9 o'clock, which would be like normal right or left turns.

[shura]

2 hours ago, egnever said:

Completely don't understand the confusion regarding 135 degrees. It's a fucking roundabout, how else are you going to express how far you have to turn around it before you get out? You could say get out on the 2nd, 3rd, etc right, but without knowing how many spokes there were to the roundabout (and how they're arranged), it's not particularly descriptive to anyone with a decent sense of direction.

He arrived at the 135 degrees by looking at the map, seeing all the spokes and picking the one at 135 degrees. "Take the 2nd exit after you enter the roundabout" sounds absolutely definitive to me. I'd think that's what the driver would expect to hear, and so it would be more efficient than descriptive but unexpected high school math directions.

[egnever]

27 minutes ago, shura said:

He arrived at the 135 degrees by looking at the map, seeing all the spokes and picking the one at 135 degrees. "Take the 2nd exit after you enter the roundabout" sounds absolutely definitive to me. I'd think that's what the driver would expect to hear, and so it would be more efficient than descriptive but unexpected high school math directions.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with saying 2nd right, but it's not an expression of how far into the roundabout it is, because a roundabout can have a varying number of exits angled at varying degrees. Which is why this would do very little in terms of orienting someone's sense of direction. If I know I have to roughly head in a southerly direction, for example, and someone told me to take the 2nd right, that would be fine if I were just about to enter the roundabout and wanted specific GPS-style directions on how to exit the roundabout.

But for general terms, I would like to know which direction I was going after I left the roundabout. Saying 135 is degrees perfectly reasonable, because then I would know that if I were heading in a southerly direction entering the roundabout, I would be leaving in a southwesterly direction. As opposed to certain roundabouts where a second right might end up be the equivalent of a left turn, and then I would suddenly be heading east and be wondering if the directions were correct after the fact.

I also agree that saying 2 o'clock would also be a good laymen's way of expressing this. But I don't see the problem in saying 135 degrees because you're measuring how far along the circle you're traveling. I don't see it as being overly intellectual. If anything, having to count exits is more taxing than knowing which direction you have to exit to begin with. 

Edited April 2, 2017 by egnever

[Netfoot]

25 minutes ago, shura said:

He arrived at the 135 degrees by looking at the map, seeing all the spokes and picking the one at 135 degrees.

Yes, but 135° from where?  He wanted her to turn at 135° from back the way they were coming from?!??    If I'm navigating and I say "Do not turn," or "turn zero degrees," I don't expect you to assume that means go back the way we came.  Zero degrees is straight ahead.  So 135° has got to indicate a switchback turn, either left or right, depending on whether you're driving on the left or right (and going around the circle leftwards or rightwards).

Most sensible thing, seeing as he was staring at the map, was to say "Take the Xth exit", which is explicit, regardless what actual direction that ended up taking you.

[Jobiska]

It was Becca who had to climb up on a stack of suitcases to get the high up, silver-colored suitcase, right?  I couldn't see which suitcase they opened to find the Express Pass, and I don't remember what color Floyd's was, but I was wondering if the Pass turned out to be the "reward" for getting the most difficult-to-retrieve suitcase.

I have a high tolerance for mugging/trying too hard, so they're my favorite team so far.  If you ignored the "use my looks" comments, I didn't mind Jenn either, (she had some good lines later and I liked the camaraderie they were building) but I knew they were doomed as soon as they were the last of two teams, because I'd seen Redbeard yelling in a preview in a location we hadn't seen (also Vanck being yelled at) so I knew both those teams were on future episodes.  Sigh.  

(In fact, to like Becca I have to overlook her misstep with "Urkel-ing" Floyd, so I'll forgive Jenn the looks thing since she didn't really try to carry that out on her partner anyway).

Edited to add:  Show, you were very silly with the science-y cartoons and clip art for Vanck's intro.
 

Edited April 2, 2017 by Jobiska

[shura]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Yes, but 135° from where?  He wanted her to turn at 135° from back the way they were coming from?!??    If I'm navigating and I say "Do not turn," or "turn zero degrees," I don't expect you to assume that means go back the way we came.  Zero degrees is straight ahead.  So 135° has got to indicate a switchback turn, either left or right, depending on whether you're driving on the left or right (and going around the circle leftwards or rightwards).

I can't remember, he might not have used the word "turn", he may have said "take the exit at 135 degrees" or something like that. I am picturing the trigonometry circle, you enter at 0 degrees and start increasing the angle as you drive around it, whatever the direction (I'm assuming counter-clockwise). This way, straight ahead is 180. So you reach the point on the circle at 135 degrees, and that's where Vanck wanted her to get off. At least that's my understanding of it. But yes,to me, certainly, "3rd exit" is absolutely unambiguous and easy to count.

1 hour ago, egnever said:

But for general terms, I would like to know which direction I was going after I left the roundabout. Saying 135 is degrees perfectly reasonable, because then I would know that if I were heading in a southerly direction entering the roundabout, I would be leaving in a southwesterly direction. As opposed to certain roundabouts where a second right might end up be the equivalent of a left turn, and then I would suddenly be heading east and be wondering if the directions were correct after the fact.

Interesting. To me, the compass rose would only matter if I planned the route in advance (which I doubt Ashton did). And a roundabout would screw it up anyway :). I doubt very much that Ashton cared even what direction she was going without turning, let alone whether she needed to go SW vs SSW after the roundabout. It looked like she simply followed Vanck's directions to go straight and turn right there. 

[greyhorse]

Glad the race is back.  But like many, I hate the gimmick of total strangers being partners.  Isn't a lot of the race being able to run it with somebody you know well, somebody you love, etc.?  The personal relationships are what make us invest in people.

Vanck.  Oh my goodness.  Could casting have selected a more stereotypical Asian?  He's a geek, nerdy, wimpy, slight of build, and non-athletic.  I don't blame blonde girl for being disappointed he is her partner.

Asian Barbie.  Glad you're gone.  She has nice hair, a nice body, and fake boobs.  But for her to say she's "going to use her looks" to get ahead?  Meh.  We've heard it before.  And you're not all that hot.

Team Colorado with the fun girl and Urkel.  Are we going to have to listen to your beat boxing all race?  Because if that's the case, I want you guys gone.

Team with the guy with one leg.  Impressed they won the rowing on the first try.

[Subrookie]

On 3/30/2017 at 11:59 PM, scrb said:

Yeah are these the type of people to apply as singles?

How would they even know that TAR were looking for singles to be paired up during the race?

Maybe they applied as teams but TAR cherry-picked people out of those team applicants?

I'm not put off by them attempting this new thing.  Any way they can get the show on the air ...

I live in Seattle and read an interview with the Bellevue cop. He applied and was short listed for an earlier season to run with his brother. For some reason they didn't make the cut.  When they were casting S29 they called him and asked if he'd consider running alone without his brother. 

[HurricaneVal]

Man...I have lately leaned that directions and a sense of direction is wildly different from person to person.  When driving, do you innately think north and south, or up and down?   When I'm driving, regardless of the direction, I think of what is in front of me as "forward" and "up" (most GPSs display this way), so when I enter a roundabout--regardless of its compass orient--by definition I enter at 6 o'clock.  But other people think differently, and they may enter at 12 o'clock, or at whatever position is relative to true North for them.  So unless you really, really know how someone thinks, "exit at 2 o'clock" or "exit at 135 degrees" is equally capable of misunderstanding.  At the risk of being accused of controlling or micromanaging, the best thing would have been to hang over the driver's shoulder and say "exit up ahead...not this one...not this one...yes, this one, turn, turn, turn!"

You can know people for years, but until you get in a car together and try to navigate to an unfamiliar location together, you would never know how differently your brains work.